The Harm That Was Done
by evaschon95
Summary: A prologue to the Underland Chronicles, detailing Hamnet's fall from Solovet's favor and the tragedy at the Garden of the Hesperides. Rated 'T' to be safe, but contains no swearing or suggestive content.
1. The Fish

It would not interfere with the war council, Hamnet reflected, if he and Luxa had been allowed out of the city on her birthday, of all days. Though Solovet insisted that he be at every council, it was not necessary. Often, he wondered why his mother even cared for his presence, as he said little at them and did even less.

At least, he wondered until the day Judith suggested their mother would eventually need someone to take over the army and he was by far the best choice, though he did not brag about such things.

But he had attended dozens of war councils over the past two years and this one promised to be little different from the others. Gorgor was half-crazed with hatred for the humans, it was true, but as of late had made few threats.

Today was Luxa's second birthday and he had promised her a ride outside the city walls ever since she had mastered the art of riding the bats instead of merely being flipped by them.

He stood now on the edge of Regalia, looking down first the farmlands beneath and then farther into the shadowy depths beyond. A short flight away was the place where he planned to take Luxa. He had already consulted with Judith and she had agreed, though not without several warnings to keep her daughter close to his side at all times.

One whistle from him and Persephone, his flier, would appear and they could be off in a minute. Luxa was in her family's chambers, a short walk away, and he had given orders this morning for the cooks to prepare a small supply of sandwiches and a water skin for their outing. That was before he had heard from Solovet.

He could still escape for half a day. The council would go on smoothly enough without him, that he knew, and he would keep his promise to Luxa. No one except Judith knew where he planned to go and she would not tell. Perhaps they would find him before he returned, but the Underland was large and it would take them hours to comb Regalia itself.

Luxa would not have been lonely on this day if he had not taken her, as Susanna and York and their oldest son would be shortly arriving from the Fount in honour of Luxa's day, but Hamnet had promised.

Solovet would be angry, but so be it. He had never broken a promise before and he did not wish to begin now.

#####

They flew over the wall of the city and Persephone headed directly to a more shadowy region of the outlying fields, as Hamnet had instructed her. He was glad that Persephone was a simple dark brown, not easily recognizable among so many bats with her colouring, though there was always a chance that someone could recognize her or him or Luxa.

His niece bounced up and down on Persephone's back until he reached out a hand and stilled her. "Careful, Luxa. Persephone will not care for you as her rider if you are not gentle."

She beamed up at him as if she had not heard his reprimand. But she did stop bouncing. She was such a little thing, his niece, but already half grown up in many ways.

"Where are we going, Uncle?" she asked instead.

"It is a surprise," he said and took her hand in his to keep her from doing hurt to Persephone in her excitement.

Persephone coasted through wide tunnels and over large, empty spaces of rock. It was while flying through tunnel shafts and over the hard surface below that he held onto Luxa more firmly. She was inquisitive and lively and though he had no doubt Persephone would catch her before she hit the ground, it was better to not put the flier – not to mention Luxa – through that. Though knowing his niece, she would view it as a new game.

The journey was too short for Luxa to be bored, especially as all the landscape was new to her. It was only ten or fifteen minutes since leaving Regalia when Persephone landed in a dim tunnel, spraying white pebbles everywhere. The tunnel floor was covered in them.

"Now we walk, Luxa," said Hamnet, helping her down from the flier. The tunnel was too narrow for Persephone to fly and she did not care for the pebbles, nor the terrain ahead of them.

"I will wait for you," she purred, and Hamnet nodded.

He took the bag of sandwiches in one hand and Luxa's hand in the other and they walked down the tunnel, the small white pebbles rolling beneath their feet. He had neglected to bring a torch, as Persephone could fly in the dark and where they were headed they would need no fire, but Luxa whispered "It's dark, Uncle" and clung tighter to his hand.

He slung the sandwich bag over one shoulder and then bent down and scooped her up to carry her the rest of the way. It was a short distance and the glow from the cavern could be seen before they reached it. He could feel the pebbles giving way to softer sand just before the tunnel opened up to the lake, the beach, and the crystals ahead of them.

Luxa gasped and squirmed out of his arms. He let her go and she ran out onto the beach, laughing with delight.

The cavern was huge, the roof of it yawning so high above Hamnet grew dizzy by looking up at it. Luminescent crystals, so small as to be hardly seen, glistened on the cavern's wall. Their light was not unlike that given off by the shiners and Hamnet assumed it was a similar principle at work, though he could not be sure since he was not one of the palace scientists.

Neither could he be sure of the size of the lake. The far end of it was hazy and he was unclear as to distance.

But no matter the size, Luxa was enchanted, perhaps even more than he had been upon first discovering the cavern. The beach was white sand, pure and sparkling, though one had to tread carefully on it. There were crystals buried in the sand, some hardly larger than the ones on the cavern walls, some as big as his fist.

He had cleared out a large area near the tunnel mouth, the part of the beach where Luxa now stood, gazing out at the lake, and he had thrown the unearthed crystals to the farther reaches of the cavern. He had not taken any with him the first and only other time he had come, for he would have had to explain where he had found the crystals and as soon as he saw the cavern, he knew it was the perfect place to take Luxa for her first flight outside the city walls.

After today, however, he would share the secret. Not many people would come anyway, as most Regalians thought anywhere outside the city boundaries unsafe and infested with gnawers.

He joined Luxa at the water's edge. "It is a lake, Luxa," he said.

"A lake," she repeated, her small voice echoing in the cavern. She knew of echoes and laughed at this one. "A lake!" she shouted. "A lake!" With each successive shout, the echoes reverberated and fed off each other, until there was a cheery chorus of 'lake' from every direction.

"Would you like to go wading?" asked Hamnet and, of course, Luxa did not say no.

He kept her in the shallows, unwilling for Judith to hear that her daughter had spent the afternoon nearly drowning because Hamnet had not been attentive enough to keep her from deeper water. As it happened, she was still soaked through by the time they returned to the beach for their picnic. He had only got his feet wet, though there were a few splashes on his shirt from where Luxa had smashed her small fists against the lapping waves.

After they ate their sandwiches, Hamnet led Luxa into the crystal laden part of the beach.

"You can chose one," he told her, "to remind you of today."

He expected her to chose the first one that came within reach, but though her hands often darted out to pick one up and examine it, she always dropped it back on the sand after a moment. Hamnet filled his pockets with several small- to medium-sized crystals to take back to Regalia, and when he was finished, Luxa had yet to chose one of her own.

"What are you looking for, Luxa?"

She looked up at him as though the answer should have been obvious. "A blue one."

Luxa's favorite colour was blue, though it was beyond him to know why. It was a rare colour in the Underland, one that was only seen in the museum or in some few articles of clothing that the royal family wore on occasion. Even among the crystals he had not seen a blue one, but Luxa was determined and Hamnet felt that they would not leave until she found one.

With this in mind, he knelt down and scooped up handfuls of sand from the beach. This far from the water it was not even damp and the sand fell back into the holes he created as soon as stilled his hand.

After a few minutes of the futile search, he stood up and dusted off his hands on his shirt.

"Luxa, we must go," he said, though with little hope of her actually listening. "Persephone will be worried for us." No doubt the flier was resting upside down on a rock ledge at the moment, but if they delayed much longer she might begin to feel anxious.

At that moment, Luxa pulled a crystal from the sand with a triumphant squeal.

"I found it! I found it!" she exclaimed and held it out for Hamnet to inspect.

"So you did," he agreed, accepting the crystal and turning it over with his fingers. It was not strictly blue, having a green tint as so many of the crystals did, but it was enough to satisfy Luxa and that was all he could ask for. It was shaped oddly and as he handed it back, he realized what it resembled.

"Does it not put you in mind of something?" he asked his niece, watching her handle the crystal.

A frown of concentration wrinkled her forehead as she studied it from every angle.

When she did not seem to see the resemblance he added, "A fish, perhaps? Can you see it, too, Luxa? The head here," he said, touching it lightly, "and the fin there."

"Oh, I see," she said, smiling as she ran her fingers along the crystal's smooth surface.

He bent down and picked her up then, for it was a little walk back to where Persephone was waiting and the hours had flown by so quickly. Surely Luxa would be tired out by now. That would please Judith, for he had often heard her complain about how long it took Luxa to fall asleep nights.

#####

Under Hamnet's direction, Persephone flew over the wall that surrounded the palace and lighted near the main gate. Hamnet shook Luxa awake; she had fallen asleep almost immediately after their departure from the cavern.

Luxa rubbed the sleep from her eyes and Hamnet watched as she looked about, taking in the busy swirl of palace life that she did not ordinarily see.

Her eyes fastened on one direction in particular and the next moment, she was scrambling down from Persephone's back as fast as her short legs would allow. "Howard! It is Howard!" she shouted and Hamnet followed her gaze to a boy of six, tall for his age, with hair that flopped over his eyes. It was Howard.

There was a servant with Howard – Hamnet recognized her by sight – and so he let Luxa go. In moments, the cousins were reunited and Howard had pulled something from his pocket to show Luxa. And Luxa, in turn, proudly displayed her crystal fish.

"Hamnet!" a voice called and he looked away from Luxa and Howard to see Mareth closing the space between them.

"Thank you, Persephone," he murmured to his flier and she gave a graceful nod, then flew up and out of the lofty chamber. He had meant to say more, to suggest that tomorrow they would do something she could enjoy as well, but there was no time. Mareth moved quickly and there was the look of bad news on his face.

"Hamnet," Mareth repeated when he was within speaking, and not shouting distance.

"What is the matter?" asked Hamnet.

Mareth hesitated for just a moment, but it was long enough for Hamnet's pulse to quicken. If whatever Mareth's news was had held his tongue, it could be nothing good.

"Have the gnawers attacked Regalia?" Hamnet demanded, though he knew that could not have been the case. There would have been warning signs as they flew into the city.

Mareth shook his head. "Solovet is furious," he said. He spoke quickly. "When you did not appear at the war council, she refused to discuss her business there until you returned. She has held the entire council there these past two hours and has not grown quieter with the waiting."

A chill fell over Hamnet. His mother's rages, when they came, were tremendous and had he known-

But no. He had promised Luxa and so he squared his shoulders and nodded. "I will go to the council directly," he said, though he had thought to change his clothes before finding Solovet. His shirt front was dusty and Luxa had drooled on him while he slept.

Mareth fell into step beside him. He said nothing, but Hamnet was glad of his presence all the same. There was a steadiness about Mareth that he had often found reassuring in the heat of chaos and conflict. In battle, too.

When they reached the entrance to the war council, Mareth stopped. "Tread carefully with Solovet." Then he left and Hamnet was tasked with entering the council room alone.

There was a silence like death in the room when he entered.

His mother was on the far end of the room, seated in her chair. The members of the war council surrounded her in a semi-circle on their own seats. All were elderly and two or three had gone to sleep.

Hamnet walked to the centre of the room and fell to one knee, making a quick bow before standing up to face his mother again. "I apologize for my late arrival," he said. There. He had now made his apology in a manner sincere and it was up to her to pardon or punish.

Solovet rose from her seat. "You apologize?" she said. Her voice was hard, her tone heated.

Hamnet said nothing.

"You have made a mockery of this war council," she snapped, descending from the platform on which all the war council sat. "Regalia will soon be at war with the gnawers. Every week, Gorger sends more lies by his emissaries, more threats. You would abandon us at this time to go play games with a child?"

Hamnet's jaw twitched. "I contribute nothing to these war councils, even as your second in command." He took a deep breath before speaking the words that burned on his tongue. "In truth, I think none of you contribute much. We waste time with weekly councils; they should not be called unless necessary. Every human, every flier in Regalia knows what is needed if Gorger attacks. If we worked-"

"Enough!" Solovet shouted.

Hamnet fell silent. He had never seen his mother lose control in such a way, though he had seen her come close. But he did not wish to retrieve any of his words. He had thought them often and it had felt good to say them aloud.

Most of the council members spent more time napping anyway and their suggestions were most always antiquated. It was Solovet who was the head of the army and she did not need a group of ancient advisors to tell her what to do.

"You have disregarded my wishes and you have insulted the council," she said, eyes steely.

But in the next moment, her expression quieted, even softened. "I request your presence at these meetings so that you will equipped to lead my army, Regalia's army, when I am not here."

It took him a moment to realize that she did not mean 'when I am not here' to mean when she was not in Regalia, but when she was dead.

"You must learn to trust my orders," Solovet continued, "and if you must learn this the hard way, then so be it." Her voice was suddenly weary, but she raised it to call for the guards standing outside the door. They entered and stood at attention, one of each side of Hamnet. Their movements were so practised that Hamnet was sure they were already under previous orders from his mother.

"Take my son to his quarters," said Solovet. "Make sure he stays there."

Hamnet almost protested, but he was being punished for not following Solovet's orders and now was as good a time as any to begin earning her trust again. He did not want to be on his mother's bad side any longer than necessary.

The guards saluted and turned to face the door. Hamnet turned with them, summoning all the precision he had been taught on the training field. He would act like the soldier he was and all the better if Solovet saw him doing so.

It did not take long in their march down hallways and past curtained rooms for Hamnet to realize that, if the guards were escorting him back to his sleeping quarters, they were taking a most awkward route.

"Where are we going?" he said aloud, though he expected no answer and received none.

Within a few minutes, however, their destination became clear. The dungeon. They were taking him on the most direct route to the dungeon and he whipped around, shoving one of the guards into the other. He would not go there, not ever. He had heard enough stories.

He had already run half the length of the hall when a huge hand crashed onto his shoulder and hauled him back. There was a brief struggle between Hamnet and the guard, brief because just before he could strike a blow in the guard's face, a fist smashed against the back of his head and he tumbled downward into unconsciousness.


	2. The Garden

There was no light.

There was no sound except that of his own breathing.

There was no feeling in him except confusion and an anger that slowly grew.

Hamnet rolled over onto his back and stared upwards at the ceiling of his cell, though he could not even see his own hand as he passed it in front of his face.

He had seen this cell before as he had seen every part of Regalia. It was the only cell of its kind, as there were few infractions that could not be dealt with by a reprimand from the council or execution. Two extremes – one mild, one harsh – but Regalia had fared well under those laws.

At least, until now.

It was almost inconceivable that Solovet should have imprisoned him. Almost, because his mother had forever been unpredictable and so he did not even know how long he would stay here.

Not long, he thought. He was second in command of Regalia's army and tensions between the humans and the gnawers had rarely been greater. War could break out at a moment's notice and surely Solovet would not keep him locked up for long with that threat dangling over Regalia.

Or would she?

His mother was shrewd and in complete control of the army.

Her slip of the tongue in the council room had not escaped him. She had referred to the army as hers and she could lead them into battle at any time and defeat any enemy. She had no real need of him at present, especially with war not yet declared, and Hamnet felt a desperation creeping up on him even as he flipped forward to land on his feet.

He had to get out. His thoughts had kept the darkness in the cell and in his chest at bay for a few moments, but now the anxiety of the imprisoned rose up in him. It was all he could do to keep a shout from escaping his lips. But that would get him nowhere, not until his mother decided to release him herself.

After running his fingers along the wall for a moment, he found the door and tested its hinges, its strength, and the seam between the door and the wall. There were no weaknesses he could find.

A slot at the bottom of the door squeaked open suddenly, making him jump, and for just a moment a beam of light shot into the cell. He saw a tray with a plate of food and a cup of water scrape across the floor, and then the slot banged shut and all was darkness again.

He ate the food and drank the water and after waiting for a time – he did not know how much had passed – he slept, the blackness of the cell making sleep easy.

When he awoke, the tray was gone.

#####

So it continued.

At first, he tried to keep himself awake long enough to see who took the tray and how they took it back and if there was any kind of pattern in their behaviour that he could use to his advantage. But there was never any outstretched hand or hesitation that accompanied the arrival and retrieval of his food, water, and toilet bucket. Nothing he could use to his advantage.

Eventually, he gave up any attempt of escape. There was never a chance and Solovet would only send him back.

He sat with his back against the far side of the wall and held his head in his hands, thinking.

Why had no one asked after him? Where was Persephone or Mareth or Judith? Where was his father? That was what puzzled him the most, for his father was not one to ignore his disappearance as Solovet might have bullied the others into doing. Not Persephone, perhaps, but Judith was not strong and Mareth could be given duties in a more distant region the Underland. The Fount, perhaps.

No, it was his father's absence that grieved, and finally angered him the most. He had never been one to go against how Solovet ran the Regalian army, but Hamnet was their son. Surely he could not have been made to bow to Solovet's wishes in that regard, to abandon Hamnet for the sake of whatever Solovet thought best for Regalia.

It was thoughts like these that worried him most, that set his mind to spinning round and round for hours on end. There was nothing better to do than think. He had already resigned himself that there would be no escape until Solovet released him.

At times, the thought of being dependant on her whims made his jaw so tight that his teeth ached of themselves. He was helpless and he knew it. And she knew it as well.

Why had Vikus not come? Why had Solovet not released him, since his crime, such as it was, was so light? What was happening in Regalia? How fared Persephone? What of Luxa and Judith?

He could not find the answers, could only think the questions endlessly, and so his mind fell apart, bit by bit, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

In the end, he could not bring himself to eat, and so the trays lay untouched as he curled himself up to the wall farthest from the door and waited for release from the prison of the four walls and the prison of his own mind.

#####

The door to Hamnet's cell was pushed open, scraping along the rough stone floor, and light entered the cell. It was only the flickering light of a torch, but to Hamnet it was as bright as if all of Regalia was lit for a celebration.

He rubbed his eyes and blinked and was barely able to stand.

The woman holding the torch set it in its stand outside the door and moved forward to catch him before he fell. With the light dimmed, Hamnet could open his eyes with less pain. He recognized the woman: Perdita. She and he and Mareth had all three trained and fought together.

"What-?" he began, and then coughed. His throat was rusty from so little use. When he spoke again, his voice was not much better. "What...happened?"

Something must have happened, he thought, for Solovet would not have released him without good reason.

Perdita stepped back and he found that he could stand up, though hardly. She eyed him, worry crossing her face. "I do not know," she said, "only that Solovet has requested your presence at war council and I was sent to fetch you."

A spurt of laughter escaped Hamnet. It had come back to the war council again. What would his mother say if he refused to attend this time? If he asked for Persephone to take him far away and not come back for a day or two? It was a fine idea and he-

"Hamnet?" Perdita was staring at him. She took his hand with all the gentleness of one of the nursemaids helping a baby take its first steps and led him from the cell.

They stepped out into the hall and though his eyes were fast becoming accustomed to the light, the brightness still hurt. A shadow danced and flickered at the end of the hall they walked down and as they neared it, it looked for all the world like a slavering gnawer. Hamnet flinched away.

Perdita halted. "You need a rest before you attend the council," she said. "Solovet asked you to be brought at once, but I do not think-" She hesitated. "I will take you to your room and then I will go to Solovet and explain to her. A delay of one day will not hurt."

Panic washed over him.

"No," he exclaimed, nervous, anxious. "I must go now. She will be angry if I delay." The thought of Solovet's anger and a return to the cell unnerved him. He dared not risk it.

Perdita looked at him doubtfully. "She will understand, Hamnet. I will take the responsibility." She nodded encouragingly. "You need sleep and quiet for some hours, at least."

Hamnet did not know what convinced him in the end – perhaps his weariness, perhaps his weakness, perhaps the quiet authority in Perdita's voice – but he conceded with a half nod.

He wanted to insist on being taken to Solovet, on meeting with the war council and hearing whatever the news was, whatever the worst was, but all at once he could not form words or even thoughts. All he could do was nod. Perdita took care of the rest.

#####

When Hamnet awoke, it was with a start of surprise to find himself lying on a bed, with a warm glow spilling from the torch on his bedroom wall. The Regalians rarely kept torches burning in their rooms, but Perdita must have put it there so he would not wake in the dark. He would have to thank her later.

There was a simple change of clothes laid out on the chair beside his bed: the stiff, tunic-like shirt that was common wear for those in Regalia's army, and charcoal pants. He put them on quickly before taking the torch from the wall and heading for the council.

He had no way of knowing the time, but the council chamber would answer that. If the elders were not meeting there, the guards could direct him.

His mind grew clearer as he walked. No gnawer shadows leaped at him from the walls, at least.

When Hamnet reached the council chamber, the curtain was drawn which could only mean that the council was in another meeting. He had slept for a full day – or perhaps longer, as it was unusual for Solovet to call a gathering of the council members two days in a row. Unless the situation with Gorger and the gnawers was more serious than when he had first been imprisoned.

With no further delay, he pushed the curtain aside and walked in, still holding the torch. Though there was light enough in the council chamber, he did not want to ever let light leave his hands again.

Solovet was once again seated in the center of the proceedings, looking much the same as the last time he had seen her, and Hamnet swallowed down the sudden fear that lurched into his throat. She could order him back to that cell. He almost choked then, but he was a soldier and he forced himself to regain control.

"You have joined us," Solovet said. "Good." Her voice was as measured as if she had seen Hamnet that very morning for breakfast and a chat before training.

He bowed his head and advanced. "What is the situation?"

His mother raised an eyebrow, perhaps not expecting him to take such an active interest so quickly. But he was still her second in command – at least, he assumed so, as it was not his mother's way to dole out two punishments for one crime – and he had no wish to waste time or spend a moment longer in her presence than necessary.

"The gnawers are making their presence known most forcefully," Solovet finally said. "They are gathering on our borders in small bands. Their numbers have become alarming."

Hamnet glanced at the elders, but it was clear that this was old news to them.

"Our scouts have also reported an unusually high number of adult male gnawers at the Garden of the Hesperides, gnawers that are military in both size and demeanour. We believe they are using this peaceful place of neutrality to plot the best plan of attack on our walls. Gorger himself has been seen there."

Solovet sighed and leaned forward in her seat. Hamnet stood beneath her. He had not broken his gaze once, but he was tempted even further now as her sharp eyes bored into his own.

"You know that we want the Garden of the Hesperides back," began Solovet, her tone conversational. "The apples alone would be a great benefit to all citizens of Regalia as fresh fruit is scarce and the gnawers do not share. With these new reports from our scouts, now would be an excellent time to raid the Garden and take it back for ourselves once and for all." Solovet leaned back and eyed him.

Hamnet stared back. "The Garden of the Hesperides has belonged to the gnawers for centuries," he said carefully. "If we attack it, they will not hesitate to declare war and almost certainly have been waiting for such an opportunity."

"Not if we crush them so decisively as to leave no doubt of _our_ intentions." Her eyes were alight with the glow of battle. Hamnet had seen them so before and it never failed to remind him that this was what his mother did best.

"Think on it, Hamnet!" Solovet exclaimed. "They will not be expecting such an attack, not when we have before been so hesitant to be the first offender. We can defeat them quickly, for all the gnawers to see, and take out many of their best fighters. Perhaps even Gorger himself, though," she added quickly, "the reports of his presence at the Garden were not the most reliable, I admit."

Hamnet could only agree with Solovet's reasoning. He knew little of the Garden of the Hesperides himself, besides the fact that it had been a gift to the gnawers some centuries ago and that it was generally used a pleasure spot for their families.

He pushed down that thought now. Surely if war was so imminent and the gnawers were using the Garden for war preparation, there would be no civilians allowed nearby.

But even as he thought those thoughts, he cursed his weakness, for the truth was that dreaded to cross Solovet again.

"It would have to be a sure thing," he finally said, "for the gnawers to be so thoroughly cowed as to not declare immediate war."

Solovet nodded. "It will be."

#####

A week passed before all preparations were ready for the attack on the Garden of the Hesperides. Hamnet was surprised when Solovet declined to lead the army herself, electing instead to stay behind in Regalia and oversee the remaining soldiers in case Gorger launched a surprise attack himself.

Her reasoning made sense, but Hamnet was uneasy. He did not feel ready to lead the army, even after a week's preparation. He still could not go to sleep without a torch burning in his bedchamber. And even then, nightmares stalked him by night and haunted him by day.

The leader of Regalia's mighty army, afraid of the dark? He could only hope it would pass. Until then, Mareth and Perdita would be beside him and that strengthened his confidence.

He was able to see Judith after the council meeting, and Luxa as well. There were tears in Judith's eyes when she pulled him into an embrace, but she said nothing at first. Luxa said much, however, and her inquiries into his absence were painful. He could not answer them. Luxa would not understand and he did not want to poison her against her own grandmother.

After a few minutes, Judith set Luxa to playing with her toys, while she and Hamnet talked.

"I am so sorry, Hamnet," she said, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb Luxa. "I had no idea where you were. Solovet would not answer my questions and no one else knew – or if they did, they concealed it well. I should have searched more diligently. I should have known."

Hamnet shook his head. "No one could have guessed what our mother would do."

Judith blinked back her tears. "It is over and done now," she said. "And Solovet has you leading the army again, which cannot be a bad thing." She looked up at him anxiously. "She could not dispense with her second in command so easily."

But she had, Hamnet thought, though he did not say the words aloud. They would have upset Judith. He took his twin's hands in his. They were ice cold. "What know you of Vikus? Where is he?"

Judith drew her hands from Hamnet and placed them in her lap. "Vikus has been away these past five weeks doing battle at the Fount. Reports have come that a ferocious gnawer attacked with a band of lobsters and did damage to the city walls there." She shrugged. "Solovet would have gone herself, but the day we received word from the Fount, we also received word from an emissary of Gorger, demanding the gnawers be granted the land west of the river for new homes, as they multiply quickly."

Hamnet snorted. "Too quickly."

"Yes." Judith nodded. "Solovet did not trust Vikus to give an answer that would benefit our city, so she sent him with some of our troops to oversee the fighting at the Fount. A few of the gnawers launched an attack on the Fount a week later because of the weakened defences and there Vikus has stayed ever since." Judith rubbed her forehead tiredly. "It has been a very strange time, Hamnet."

At least he had an answer as to why Vikus had made no intercession on his behalf.

Judith sank her head into her hands. "I am worried, Hamnet," she said. "There are times when Solovet seems more the leader of Regalia than I or Brandon. I worry what Luxa will do when she gains the throne. She is so like Solovet sometimes in her pride and stubbornness."

Hamnet shook his head. "With you to guide her, she cannot be so very bad."

Judith raised her head and smiled faintly. "Perhaps not, little brother. Though if you had the care of her..." Her smile turned bolder, more mischievous. "I could not answer for her manner then."

Hamnet grinned. He stayed a few minutes more and when he left was cheered by the thought that he had gotten Judith to smile, even if it was at his own expense.

#####

When Hamnet reached the outskirts of Regalia, Persephone fluttered down onto the low wall that was the first line of defence between Regalia and whatever attacked the city. Hamnet stroked his flier's neck as he studied the outlying land before him. It was a wall of black shadows, as the Regalians did not bother lighting the places they did not often go themselves. It was why each soldier would carry a torch.

Andromeda alighted a moment later with Mareth on her back.

"How fare you, Hamnet?" Mareth asked.

Hamnet shrugged. "Well enough for battle."

The answer did not seem to satisfy Mareth much, but he was quiet as more fliers with their riders appeared on the wall and in the field behind. They were silent and stoic, prepared for battle. Hamnet looked around him, taking a sweeping glance of the field. Dozens of warriors, fliers and humans alike, looked at him with expectation on their faces and as he turned back he shuddered. It was an involuntary gesture, ridding himself of the aching fear that continued to rear its head.

He made a fist and struck forward into the air. It was the signal and, as one, the fliers lining the wall rose in the air and flew for the tunnel ahead. He could hear the others lifting off behind him, feel the cool rush of air skid over his neck and past his shoulders. Another shiver went down his back.

The journey to the Garden of the Hesperides was short. Beneath Hamnet's legs, Persephone was tense.

"Is something wrong?" Hamnet finally asked.

There was a long moment of silence in which he thought she would not answer. But then she said, "You are not yourself. It troubles me."

He gave a short laugh. "I was shut out from the world for a month, and you think it strange I am not myself?"

"I am sorry I could not come to you," said Persephone. "I would have."

"I know," he murmured. First Judith and now Persephone. He knew Mareth would have come as well. Even Perdita. But they had not. They could not.

He held the torch tighter, so tightly that he could feel the heat radiating outwards. It comforted him. He would rather burn alive than be in the dark again.

Persephone tensed again. "We are here."

Hamnet looked down, but even with the glow of torches all around him he could see nothing beneath. They flew a moment more and then the tunnel disappeared and before them was a large, flat area covered with trees. It was a rare sight, a strange sight in the Underland. Cliffs ringed the field on three sides with ledges and scooped out spaces all up them. There were more caves on ground level.

It was still difficult to see into the Garden itself - the torches would have to be closer for that – but Hamnet already hear the commotion down below. Of course the gnawers had smelled them and were even now whirling about, preparing for an attack. The ambush had been a surprise he was sure, and that would help them greatly.

The fliers streaked along the cliff walls, moving in on the rats while allowing the humans to set their torches where they would be most useful in lighting the Garden. Once the field of battle was sufficiently illuminated, the fliers, shouting warriors on their backs, dove at the gnawers.

A gnawer leaped as soon as Persephone swung lower and Hamnet slashed it away with his sword. The flier ducked and circled back so Hamnet could get a better stabbing position.

The gnawer was not expecting an attack from behind and fell to the ground choking in its own blood. It was a large beast and Hamnet began to think that his mother's scouts were not wrong in their conclusions. These were warrior gnawers, trained for battle and thirsty at the scent of blood.

Persephone darted among the fray, choosing exactly the targets that Hamnet would have picked, had he been afoot. A slash here, a thrust there, always being sure to keep the gnawers away from Persephone's wings and his legs that were wrapped around the flier's sides.

The sounds, the cries of battle could be heard everywhere, but a high-pitched scream broke through all the other din and Hamnet's head whipped around to see where it had come from. He thought he recognized-

Persephone dove so quickly that Hamnet's feet skimmed the ground.

Perdita stood alone, the only human on the battlefield instead of above it, holding her own against three large gnawers. No more had noticed her yet and Hamnet had one chance to save he. Left on the ground she would surely die.

Hamnet slashed his sword at a gnawer that ran in to pull Persephone down. He left a gaping wound in the creature's side and it staggered away.

The gnawers fighting Perdita were taken by surprise as he grabbed her around the waist and dragged her onto Persephone's back by almost will power alone.

Perdita doubled over, choking. There was a deep gash on her arm and when she straightened, Hamnet could see a line of red tracing her left collarbone.

"Hesperus?" he asked, shouting to be heard over the clash of steel against gnawers' claws. Persephone circled upward, far above the reach of any gnawer.

Perdita leaned over Persephone's side and vomited. "He will not return to me," she said when she had recovered herself. "Two gnawers pulled him down. I killed them," she said, her voice weak and fierce by turns.

"I am taking you out of the battle," Hamnet said.

He did not even have to speak to Persephone before she flew yet higher until he could set Perdita down on a ledge where a torch flared.

"We will come back for you," he said.

She smiled weakly. "I do not doubt it."

Instead of returning to the battle, Hamnet ordered Persephone to fly still higher so he could see the whole battle and determine what to do next if further measures were needed.

Persephone flew up and up until he was at a dizzying height, able to see the fighting play out as if performed by children's toys.

Though the gnawers had been surprised, they were putting up a strong defense and even in the few seconds he spent up above the fight he spotted two fliers and their riders being dragged down into a whirl of dirt and grass and snapping teeth.

"To the dam," he whispered and Persephone took off with all speed.

It was not in him to waste even one more life in taking a piece of land if there was a way he could prevent it. And he had such a way. The Garden of the Hesperides was walled in on three sides by cliffs, but on the fourth side, there was a dam with sluice gates that could be opened with ease. The water would gush in and the gnawers would be forced to swim and so could be defeated more quickly.

"Call Andromeda," he said to Persephone. The high-pitched whistles of the fliers would take his message more quickly than if he had searched and shouted for Mareth.

A moment later, a flier and her rider detached themselves from the battle on the plain and flew straight toward Hamnet. Mareth was covered in so much dirt and sweat and blood that Hamnet could not be sure it was his friend until Andromeda drew closer.

"Help me open the sluice gates," said Hamnet.

Mareth's face showed surprise for but a moment; the advantages of such a strategy were obvious. "I will take the right side," he said. "It will be the end of it, then."

Hamnet nodded. Not only the end of the battle, but the end of the Garden, at least for the time. But the water could be drained later when the gnawers had given up their claim to the Garden and accepted defeat.

"Let us go, Persephone," he said. She swung around to the left side of the dam, headed for the sluice gate. Hamnet could only guess at the force of the water that would be let out through the gates. He had never seen the Garden when it was under many feet of water and could not guess at what its appearance would be after flooding it.

Thick ropes tied in complicated knots kept the sluice gate from swinging open. Hamnet unsheathed his sword and hacked at the ropes, with Persephone hovering in the air, her breaths short and anxious. The fliers did not like water except to drink it.

"Do not worry," said Hamnet between breaths as his sword bit deeper into the rope. "You will be able to fly free before the water touches you."

"I am worried about that, yes," Persephone admitted, "but also I am concerned about-"

With a final slash, the ropes broke apart and the sluice gate flew open, water gushing out with tremendous speed. Persephone darted away so quickly it was as if the water had stung her. Before, Hamnet had joked with the flier about her fear of water, but with his own fear of the dark he would never do so again.

Even here, with the torch light so feeble, he felt his own breath growing short.

From the opposite end of the dam, he heard a groaning sound and then another stream of water matched the one he had loosed. Mareth had succeeded, and the plain was fast filling with water. The gnawers floundered about in the icy cold of it, already paddling around with no way to defend themselves.

The humans swooped in on their fliers and soon the water was laced with red. They were winning and the gnawers could do next to nothing to stop the attacks. Hamnet swallowed something in the back of his throat.

"Something is coming," Persephone said, her voice urgent. She raised her head. "I think-"

And then the dam burst.

A solid wave of water roared toward them, high up as Persephone flew and she let out a sharp squeak that made Hamnet's ears hurt before hurtling higher. Hamnet almost fell off her back, so sharp and unexpected were her motions.

Persephone circled above the Garden of the Hesperides, flapping her wings much too fast, and Hamnet watched with horror as the water swept onto the plain, taking down many fliers and humans along with the gnawers. Several fliers still flew bravely, their riders on their backs, but too many were floating, struggling in the great lake below.

Screams echoed back and forth along the cavern walls. First it was only the cries of humans, but then gnawers began to call for help, first in Rat and then in Human. From the way Persephone winced and jerked, the fliers had to be crying out in their own, high-pitched squeaks.

Mixed in with all these sounds was another that Hamnet had never heard before. Screeching, keening wails that reverberated all around him and through him. Squeaks mixed with screams.

"What is it?" he whispered, more to himself than Persephone.

Nibblers? But the gnawers hated the nibblers and they would not come this close to the gnawers' territory? No, it was-

"The pups," Persephone said, sounding as if the words had been torn from her throat.

Without another word, she dived toward the lake of struggling, writhing bodies below and Hamnet understood.

He saw no pups, but as they neared the surface, a hand reached out to him and he grabbed it. Persephone dipped to one side to make the rescuing easier and he hauled the dripping soldier up to safety.

Persephone was a large flier and could handle at least one more human, but the next creature he saw was a gnawer. It did not matter. Right now, there were lives to be saved, and he did not care whether those lives were human, gnawer, or shiner. He pulled the gnawer onto Persephone and gave a sharp order to fly to one of the ledges. There would be time for politeness later. The pups were still crying and it filled his mind with a terrible urgency.

He deposited the soldier and the gnawer onto one of the many cliff ledges and the next instant, Persephone was flying back to find more lives.

All around him, Hamnet was aware of other fliers and their riders carrying out similar rescue missions, but he did not stop to coordinate. Every second that passed meant more dead.

He and Persephone carried another gnawer, a small flier, and three more humans out of the water and up to safety before he sensed that she was tiring. But she headed back down for another load and he did not, could not stop her. As long as they could move, they would rescue those in need.

The din was growing a little quieter now. Hamnet refused to think of what that meant.

Water splashed his his face as one of Persephone's wings skimmed the lake's surface. She flinched back and Hamnet felt himself falling off her back. He grabbed onto the flier's fur, but there was a greater hold on her right wing.

"Hamnet!" she cried. He heard the crack of a bone breaking.

With a great splash, Hamnet found himself in the water, choking on liquid that tasted rusty and foul. He pushed to the surface and looked around wildly for Persephone. She was nowhere to be found. All around him were corpses, with only a few that still lived to call for help.

A large flier rushed towards him and he recognized it. "Andromeda!" he called, choking on the water that brushed past his face.

Andromeda swooped down and grabbed his arm in one of her claws. Then he was rising away from the lake, higher and higher up until he was dizzy. She flipped him up into the air and he landed on her back like a Regalian baby learning to trust the fliers.

Below, the water level still rose and bodies floated in a lake of blood. There were few sounds now and none of those high wails from the pups.

Hamnet slumped against Andromeda's neck for a moment, heartsick.

He was soaked and light-headed and perhaps wounded as well, judging from the pain in his back, but he had to get back down there. There was little sound now, but here and there a flier's wing fluttered, a human cried out, a gnawer thrashed to the water's surface.

He had done this and only he should risk to save them now. He would not force Mareth to forfeit his life, nor Andromeda hers.

Pain shot through him, but he disregarded it as he leaped off Andromeda.

At the last moment, Mareth lunged forward and caught the back of his shirt, hauling him backwards as he did so. "There are none left to help!" he shouted.

"I cannot leave the rest to die!" Hamnet shouted. He pulled against Mareth's grip, but it held firm.

"There are none left, Hamnet," Mareth repeated in a voice that was now quiet and broken.

Hamnet's back burned, but he wrenched away from Mareth anyway and would have again leaped from Andromeda's back in the next moment, if Mareth had not cracked him over the head with a blow that sent him reeling backwards into the hated darkness.


	3. The Escape

A dull flickering was the first thing Hamnet's blurred eyes saw upon regaining consciousness. When his head cleared, he saw that the light came from a torch on the opposite wall and his breathing slowed. With the torch there, he would have light.

He stayed his gaze on the torch for some time and it was only afterwards that he grew interested in the rest of his surroundings. When he looked around him, he recognized the large room. It was the hospital ward in Regalia. There were other beds with other patients – he assumed he was a patient as well, though there was only a faint pain in his back – as well as nurses and other workers moving through the room in an uneven stream.

A man came up to his bed, one with a kind face and voice, though Hamnet did not understand a word he said. He frowned and shook his head and, finally, though his throat scratched and burned, he said, "I do not understand..."

The man's expression changed from kind to concerned. He was most likely a doctor, Hamnet thought. He did not recognize the man, though.

And so it passed for one or two days. The hospital workers gave him strange potions to drink that would make him thick-headed and groggy, sometimes even prompting him to sleep for what he guessed were hours at a time. He would have refused if he had been strong enough, but it was a vicious cycle. He had no chance to come fully awake and alert before they dosed him again.

Eventually, however, they began to give him food, real food, and plain water.

People came to see him, but they spoke a strange language and he had no memory of any of them.

One man, an older man, came to see him often, sitting beside Hamnet's bed. After the first few attempts at speech, he said nothing but only sat and studied Hamnet's face or the floor. Many times, tears ran down his face and he made no attempt to wipe them away.

There was also a middle-aged woman with a strong, hard face who came to see him once, a woman whose face softened into tenderness for only a moment during her visit. And then there was a young woman about his age who brought a little girl with her. They visited him more often than anyone else. One time, the girl brought him a gift, a strange blue crystal.

It looked, for all the world, like a fish.

And, in a flash, he remembered.

He remembered the crystals, the beach, Luxa, everything. And with that remembrance came the memory of what happened after the beach with the crystals, and what happened after that and after that and forward and forward until he arrived at-

Hamnet sucked in a deep breath.

"Judith," he said, staring at the woman sitting beside him. His twin. His friend. And Luxa in her lap, his niece. "Judith," he repeated, anchoring the name, the face, the recognition in his mind.

Her face broke into a smile, it quickly turned into a sob. "Hamnet..."

Luxa curled up in Judith's lap, trying to comfort her mother.

"You know me?" Judith said.

Hamnet nodded. He knew the rest, too. He knew that the man who sat beside him and wept was his father, and that the stern woman was his mother and that what he had done at the Garden of the Hesperides was unforgivable to anyone, but especially to himself.

He did not deserve to sit here, safe and warm and _bright_ , with Judith and Luxa sitting beside him as though he was still their cherished twin and uncle. He was not. He was a monstrous creature and he would not be made to perform more monstrous acts by his mother who he knew could still force him to do anything.

Judith spoke again. "You spoke strangely for days," she said. "We almost despaired of your mind."

Hamnet shook his head. They were the ones who had spoken strangely.

"Mareth has been too busy to come, but he wanted you to know that he found Perdita. He found her where you had left her and brought her home safely. She is well." Judith leaned forward and wrapped her hand around his. "You were not to blame for what happened, Hamnet." Her hand was hot against his chilled skin. "You must not think that."

He did not speak. There was nothing he could say anymore, nothing that would change what had happened to Persephone, to dozens of soldiers and their fliers, to the gnawers' pups. And so he would not say anything.

Judith squeezed his hand in hers and then stood. "We will come back later."

#####

Perdita came to see him on the third day.

He had taken to pacing the floor of the ward when there were no doctors around – officially, he wasn't supposed to move at all, but he could not keep still. The guilt gnawed at him so, making him restless, anxious, aching to do something. But there was nothing for him to do. So he paced.

Perdita came into the ward and fell into step beside him, saying nothing.

"Judith told me that Mareth found you," Hamnet said. "I am sorry that I didn't, I couldn't-"

"You were not yourself, they told me. It was not your fault." Perdita's eyes darkened and flashed and Hamnet was sure he knew whose fault Perdita thought everything was.

She was wrong, however, and he told her so with a voice that shook as his legs grew weak. He made his way back to his bed.

"No," Perdita said, with a firmness of voice. "No. You did everything you could to save them, and that is what matters. And the crumbling of the dam was not your fault either. How could you foresee such a thing?"

Hamnet closed his eyes. He could still hear the screams of the dying with as much clarity as he heard Perdita's voice.

"Where is Mareth?" he asked after a moment.

Perdita shook her head. "I do not know. Solovet has placed the palace on a higher alert than usual. I was only able to come see you because I was wounded in the fight and am ordered to rest." She pulled back her sleeve to reveal a thickly bandaged arm.

"Since-" Perdita hesitated. "Since _that_ , Gorger has increased his threats. A scout was found dead this morning."

A chill worked its way into Hamnet's very bones. The deaths had not stopped. Because of him.

"Do not think of it for now," Perdita said. She smiled sadly. "I know what it is to feel guilt over choices made on the battlefield. As does Mareth. As do most of us. Even your mother, I would expect." She let out a long breath. "In time, you will learn to leave those things behind and find a peace within. I know it to be so."

Hamnet said nothing.

The silence stretched on for several moments. Finally, Perdita gently touched his shoulder.

"Rest, Hamnet," she whispered. "We need you."

Perdita left the ward and once she was gone, a shudder ran through Hamnet. Nobody needed him except, perhaps, Solovet. She needed him to head the army, needed him to stay and be her second if she was ever killed in battle.

And so he would not live in Regalia anymore. His mother would not let him lead his own life if he stayed and he could not serve her again. He would never find the peace within that Perdita spoke of, that he ached for, if he continued to fight his mother's battles.

#####

That night when all was quiet, he left his bed and crept out of the ward, one of the hall torches gripped tightly in his hand.

Regalia was in darkness as Hamnet crept through its streets, the flickering from his torch casting a pale circle of light only a few feet in every direction. Other torches flickered here and there, but they were few.

If Persephone had been with him, they would have flown away in an instant. An ache filled his chest as he thought of her, an ache that would perhaps always be there whenever he thought of his bond.

He shook aside his thoughts for the moment and focused on escape.

He was headed toward Regalia's gate, a towering collection of crossed stone bars. There were guards, but they would know him and he would persuade them to open the gate, in one way or another. He had to leave. He could not stay in Regalia an instant longer. The walls threatened to crush him if he remained and if he left, there would be open spaces and clean air untainted by torch smoke and plenty of ways to lose himself if the memories became too unbearable.

He expected they would.

There was a scraping sound behind him, that of someone's shoe slipping in the rough rocky ground of Regalia. Hamnet turned, every nerve pulled taut, for one moment a soldier again with a soldier's instincts.

"Who moves there?" he demanded of the shadows, for whoever watched him kept well clear of his torch's light.

There was a quick breath, a moment's hesitation, and then out of the shadows slipped a thin, frail young girl with dark half-moons under her eyes. He recognized the girl at once. Nerissa, Luxa's fragile cousin who dreamed terrible dreams and was mocked by many of the Regalians for her recounting of those visions.

"Nerissa," he said. "Why came you here?"

"I must beg a promise of you, Hamnet," she said, her clear eyes staring straight into his. The fixity of her gaze would have unnerved him had Hamnet not known of her strange ways.

He shrugged, which caused his bag of provisions to slip from his shoulder. He hoisted it back up. "Then what is this promise, Nerissa?"

"Ten years hence, you will most assuredly be in the company of a hisser and a Halflander child," said Nerissa, her voice as solemn as her words were absurd. Hamnet said nothing, though, but let her finish. He had never joined the other Regalians in their mockery. "You must swear to be at the Arch of Tantalus when those ten years have passed. Many will have need of you then."

Hamnet stared at her much as she had stared at him.

"What you say, Nerissa-" he began as gently as he could. "It makes little sense." In truth, he would more likely be dead in far less than ten years.

"Perhaps," she said. "But you will do this thing? You must."

Her voice had begun to grow frantic, and so Hamnet nodded. "If what you have told me comes true, I will return in ten years. I give you my word."

"Thank you." And with that, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened, she turned to leave.

"Will you be safe?" Hamnet called after her. If she showed the slightest hesitation, he would escort her back to the palace himself, even considering the possibility of capture. Inside the city's walls, Regalia was a peaceful place, but there were always dangers. And Nerissa was not yet ten.

She gave him a ghostly, though somehow cheery smile. "I will be fine. At least, until I reach the palace. After that, all is dark."

As long as she reached the palace, she would be well. The guards would make sure of that.

And so they parted and went their separate ways and as Hamnet continued his way toward the gate, he mulled over Nerissa's words. Hissers were passing scarce in the Underland and there were none outside the jungle as far as he knew. And he did not plan to enter the jungle.

As for a Halflander child, there had never been one in all the history of the Underland.

An Underlander marrying an Overlander was unheard of. Simply not done.

Deeper shadows loomed over him and he looked up to see the city gate ahead. There were two guards on duty and he reached deep into his pocket for the pouch that was there. There were plenty of coins to buy his freedom and if they did not take to the bribe, well, he was the former second-in-command of the Regalian army and they were only guards and surely he could outfight them. Even two of them.

"Halt," the guard ordered when he came closer and Hamnet recognized the guard's voice at once.

"Mareth?"

The guard relaxed his sword arm. It was Mareth.

"What do you here?" asked Hamnet, stepping forward. Mareth was a palace guard when there was no battle to be fought and held a rank considerably higher than of a soldier who would guard Regalia's gates.

"Filling in for my wayward brother. And I could ask the same of you," Mareth said, slapping a hand on Hamnet's arm. "A message from Solovet?"

A metallic taste filled Hamnet's mouth at the mention of his mother. He shook his head.

"No." He cleared his throat. "I am leaving."

At that, Mareth stepped back and seemed to take a closer look at Hamnet's clothes – sturdy and nearing the thickness of armour – and his heavy bag of provisions and the dagger sheathed at his side.

"You are leaving?" Mareth's face showed puzzlement. "Why?"

"I cannot stay," he said, feeling older with each word. "My mother will bring me back from the medical ward in days to lead the army again. And when she passes on, I will be expected to take her place. And Mareth," he finished, a tightness in his throat, "I cannot do what she wants. I cannot fight again."

Mareth nodded. "I will not stop you. But what say we to Solovet when she asks?"

"Tell her that I overpowered you," Hamnet said. "She will have an easy time believing that." And for the first time since Hesperides, he found himself smiling.

Mareth grinned, too. "When we meet again, I will have the pleasure of cramming those words down your throat."

Hamnet nodded. "I do not doubt it."

"You should leave quickly now," said Mareth, "before Horatio comes back. He has the watch with me and went for a quick flight to make sure all is well in the city." He slid back the bolt of the gate and stepped aside to allow Hamnet to pass.

"Tell Judith and Luxa and Perdita I say farewell to them all. But secretly, so Solovet does not discover it," Hamnet added, pausing just inside the city walls.

Mareth nodded. "I promise."

His words reminded Hamnet of the promise he had made only minutes before. He would keep his word, though how he would stumble upon a hisser or a Halflander child was beyond his thinking, and he would trust Mareth to keep his.

"Fly you high, Mareth," he said.

There was a moment's hesitation before Mareth returned his words. "Fly you high, my friend."

And as Hamnet stepped outside of Regalia with no flier and no friend, the loneliness almost crushed him. He looked back for an instant, thinking that perhaps he could change his mind and return. But Mareth had already closed the gate and so he turned and took a deep breath and headed into a place he did not know.

 _Finis._


End file.
